Sensors in the sense of this application may consist of any type of measuring devices such as, for example, level sensors, pressure sensors, limit level sensors or temperature sensors, just to mention a few examples. Thereby, different physical effects can be used for the measurement. The acquisition of measured values can be realized with the aid of radar waves, ultrasound, vibration, guided microwaves (TDR, Time Domain Reflection) or capacitive effects.
Known level sensors for carrying out a contactless measurement comprise an antenna that transmits and receives signals by utilizing the aforementioned effects in order to determine the level of a medium, e.g., in a product container. The antenna of such a level sensor is arranged, for example, within the container above the medium in this case.
The electronic modules of such sensors usually consist of several electronic subassemblies. These subassemblies are frequently installed into different sensors in identical form such that different sensors or sensors with different properties are achieved depending on the respective combination of subassemblies. The electronic subassemblies undergo the required manufacturing and testing steps separately and are not assembled until the completion of the electronic module. In this case, the different electronic subassemblies can only be optically identified such that there is a risk of combining incorrect subassemblies into an electronic module. Until now, such an incorrect assembly could only be detected by means of final functional tests of the electronic modules that are time-consuming and require additional production steps. It would also be conceivable that an electronic subassembly is installed that has not undergone all testing steps. Furthermore, the installation of subassemblies of identical construction into different sensors may require an adaptation and adjustment that once again require an additional production step and come along with higher manufacturing expenditures.